Troopers investigate a Saturday wreck on Highway 28 south of Dixon. Although the car has residual traces of police markings, it was privately owned by a city employee at the time of the crash.

PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. (Feb. 23, 2009) — While icy road conditions that contributed to a four-vehicle wreck cleared up by late morning on Saturday, crashes continued around Pulaski County that weren’t related to the weather.

According to Missouri State Highway Patrol reports, Megan E. Wood, 16, of Waynesville, was northbound in a 2004 Dodge Stratus on Highway 17 about two miles north of the Waynesville city limits at 7 p.m. Saturday when she skidded across the centerline, ran off the left side of the roadway, and then struck a ditch and a tree.

Wood, who had been wearing her seat belt, suffered only minor injuries and was transported by Pulaski County Ambulance District paramedics to St. John’s Hospital in Lebanon. Her vehicle was moderately damaged and removed by Jack’s Towing.

Troopers reported that Michael Declue, 41, of Rolla, was eastbound on Interstate 44 about six miles east of the St. Robert city limits at 2:32 a.m. Sunday when his 1993 Pontiac Bonneville ran off the right side of the roadway and hit a guardrail.

Declue, who had not been wearing his seat belt, suffered minor injuries and was transported by Pulaski County Ambulance District paramedics to Phelps County Regional Medical Center in Rolla. His vehicle was totaled and removed by Jack’s Towing.

Troopers reported that a Fort Leonard Wood resident, Jeremy S. Collins, 23, was arrested at 1:10 a.m. Sunday in Pulaski County on charges of driving while intoxicated and failure to stop at a stop sign. Collins was transported by troopers to the Pulaski County Jail and subsequently released.

No information was available from state patrol reports on Collins’ military status, if any.

About 5 a.m. Monday, Pulaski County 911 dispatchers received a report of a rollover wreck on Highway 17 north of Crocker with nobody in the area. Crocker firefighters and Pulaski County Ambulance District personnel arrived at 5:14 a.m. but little information was immediately available on the incident. It’s not clear whether anyone was hurt or if the driver was located by emergency personnel.

A Saturday report of a rollover wreck south of Dixon near the 14300 block of Highway 28 turned out to be less serious than initially reported to 911 dispatchers, but did involve a Dixon city employee driving a former Dixon police car that had been sold to her.

Trooper W. Collins reported that Cheryl R. Chambers, 52, of Dixon, who works as the city's head librarian, had been westbound at 2:15 p.m. on Highway 28 in a 1999 Ford Crown Victoria when she crossed the centerline and began skidding and sliding. She crossed the centerline a second time, ran off the right side of the roadway, and struck a curve sign before landing in a roadside ditch on the right side of the roadway.

Dixon firefighters and Dixon Ambulance District personnel responded but Chambers, who had been wearing her seat belt, declined medical treatment. Her vehicle sustained extensive damage and was removed by Jack’s Towing.